When I was quite young but literate, I began investigating the paranormal. Snapped up books on UFOs, OBE, SHC, Astral Projection, Bermuda Triangle: all kinds of phenomena and ghosts and spiritism-age weirdness.
But being Catholic I was also going to a big fancy theater once a week where there was cosplay and fairy tales and lots of singing and a snack. All your friends hung out for coffee and donuts. And really that was my surface-level experience of the Christian faith, because Star Wars was more real to kids like us, than the Old Testament (at least most of the NT folks had been photographed and copied...)
But upon returning I considered how this is a way of life for millions-billions, great intellects, vast civilizations, isn't there more than fairy tales? And it really took dedication and concentrated effort and perseverance just to open up to those possibilities of a spiritual realm. But once you grasp that there's something to it all, and a breadth and depth that's unfathomable, and things might get rocky or difficult, decision point time: follow him to the Cross, or turn away and you'll never know?
Moreover, it became apparent but surprising to me that my reality was unlike others' reality, and I simply have no way of being inside the other's experience of their reality. There's no film or video game or book that can convey to you how people really live, love, and die. We just set out on life's journey and hack through the jungle, making friends along the way.
But being Catholic I was also going to a big fancy theater once a week where there was cosplay and fairy tales and lots of singing and a snack. All your friends hung out for coffee and donuts. And really that was my surface-level experience of the Christian faith, because Star Wars was more real to kids like us, than the Old Testament (at least most of the NT folks had been photographed and copied...)
But upon returning I considered how this is a way of life for millions-billions, great intellects, vast civilizations, isn't there more than fairy tales? And it really took dedication and concentrated effort and perseverance just to open up to those possibilities of a spiritual realm. But once you grasp that there's something to it all, and a breadth and depth that's unfathomable, and things might get rocky or difficult, decision point time: follow him to the Cross, or turn away and you'll never know?
Moreover, it became apparent but surprising to me that my reality was unlike others' reality, and I simply have no way of being inside the other's experience of their reality. There's no film or video game or book that can convey to you how people really live, love, and die. We just set out on life's journey and hack through the jungle, making friends along the way.